I wonder how Kinsley felt about James Watts joke about the cripple. Or Bobby Knight's joke about rape? Or Rush Limbaugh's joke about Donovon McNabb? Or any conservative's joke gone awry about anything.

Was Michael so big-hearted then?

Nah. He's a liberal. What else do I have to say?

James Watt said, and I quote, "I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent;" Limbaugh said that McNabb was overrated because he is black; Bobby Knight said ""I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it."

Of these, the only joke, if any of them were jokes, was James Watt's comment.

None of these come close to comparing to what Al Franken said. He was in a private meeting and was thinking off the cuff of jokes to explain the sedatives found in Andy Rooney's desk. He joked to two other individuals, alone, that Rooney had them as a date rape drug.

In poor taste, sure! Remotely equivalent to saying on a national forum that woman should just sit back and enjoy rape or that someone is overrated merely because of their race, hardly!

Typical liberal hypocrisy, when they stupid things it's "Thinking off the cuff" and not to be taken seriously because it was in a "private meeting". The fact liberals says these kinds of stupid things in "private meetings" while putting on a completetly different public face should be cause for concern. What else are they trying to fool us about? At least you know where conservatives stand.

Are those people professional comiedians, or are they politicians trying to be funny. Okay, there's a basketball coach in there, but Limbaugh is a politician.

Limbaugh is most definitely a comedian. Just listen to his show. Nobody could be that asinine on purpose.

Umm... no.

When it's your job to think up offensive jokes, you get something of a pass when you think up an offensive joke. And frankly, suggesting that Andy Rooney has a store of date rape drugs isn't really all that offensive to anyone but Andy Rooney.

Saying, in all earnestness, that women should enjoy rape is not something anyone gets a pass on.

Rush Limbaugh is not a politician any more than, say, Bill Mahr is a politician. Neither one has ever run for office, they are commentators, one conservative one liberal. The sole reason for their existence is to get rich off hectoring the other side of the aisle and they do this job very well. That they express their like or dislike for certain politicians based on their espoused ideology makes them incidental supporters of some politicians and detractors of others. People's reactions to commentators are based on their own ideology. If they agree with the commentator, they love him, if they disagree they hate him. I happen to like Rush Limbaugh and agree with some of what he says. I'm now ready to weather the storm of personal attacks and respond in kind.